Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. In a wireless multi-hop network in which node devices communicate a plurality of data messages to one another that are each formatted as a series of at least one packet that is further formatted as a series of at least one frame, a method for determining packet routing for a first node device based on passive measurement of data messages over a plurality of wireless links formed between the first node device and neighboring node devices including a neighboring second node device, the method comprising: transmitting, by the first node device, a first data message of the plurality of data messages to the second node device via a corresponding wireless link, the first data message being an in-band, non-overhead message; monitoring, by at least one of the first node device and the second node device, at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to only a selected subset of frames of the series of at least two one frames of the first data message, wherein the selected subset of frames has structural similarity to selected subsets of frames of other data messages communicated and monitored by other node devices of the network; determining a link cost associated with the wireless link based on at least one transmission performance parameter value produced as a result of the monitoring of the at least on transmission performance parameter; obtaining, by the first node device, a packet routing path characteristic applicable to packets to be transmitted via the first node device and representing a preferred routing path from among the plurality of wireless links with neighboring node devices, the packet routing path having been generated based on a comparison of link costs corresponding to individual ones of the plurality of wireless links with neighboring node devices, including the link cost associated with the wireless link corresponding to the second node device; and storing, by the first node device, the obtained packet routing path characteristic.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein in transmitting the first data message, the first data message contains data originated by a source node device and intended to be received and acted upon by a destination node device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter includes storing past values of the at least one parameter, and wherein the determining of the link cost includes computing a statistical summary based on the past values.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the statistical summary represents a running average with greater weight attributed to more recent values.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the statistical summary represents a value assigned to one of a plurality of bins, wherein boundaries defining each of the plurality of bins are dynamically adjustable.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the selected subset of frames consists essentially of predefined frames that are present in all data messages.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the selected subset of frames includes frames associated with an authentication portion of the first data message.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the selected subset of frames includes the first n frames of the first data message, wherein n is a predefined quantity.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter includes counting re-transmissions of each frame of the selected subset of frames and wherein the link cost represents an expected transmission count (ETX).
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring the at least one transmission performance, parameter includes obtaining a value of the at least one transmission performance parameter selected from the group consisting of: a time duration for successful transmission, data rate, quantity of retransmissions.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the structural similarity of the selected subset of frames includes similarity of a degree such that transmission success of the selected subset of frames is unaffected by any variations in frame structure of the frames of selected subsets among the first data message and the other data messages.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, a structural similarity of the selected subset of frames includes similarity of a distribution of sizes of frames of the selected subsets among the first data message and the other data messages.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, a structural similarity of the selected subset of frames includes similarity of a relative arrangement, within a corresponding message, of the frames of the selected subsets among the first data message and the other data messages.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting, by the first node device, a plurality of data messages to the second node device via the wireless network; and monitoring, by at least one of the first node device and the second node device, at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to a selected subset of frames of the series of at least two frames of all data messages of the plurality of data messages transmitted by the first node device to the second node device.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storing of the packet routing path characteristic includes storing a determination of whether the wireless link should be included in a routing path to a particular destination node device.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storing of the packet routing path characteristic includes storing criteria for adjusting a data rate to be used in transmitting messages over the wireless link.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the second node device performs the monitoring and reports transmission performance parameter values to the first node device.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the first node device performs the monitoring.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, the second node device performs the monitoring; and wherein in the determining of the link cost associated with the wireless link, the second node device determines the link cost and reports the link cost to the first node device.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless multi-hop network includes a third node device; and wherein the third node device receives the transmission performance parameter value; and wherein in determining of the link cost associated with the wireless link, the third node device determines the link cost and reports the link cost to the first node device.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless multi-hop network includes a third node device; and wherein the third node device obtains the link cost and determines the packet routing path characteristic; and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the first node device, the packet routing path characteristic from the third node device.
22. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting, by the first node device, a second data message of the plurality of data messages to the second node device via the wireless link; and wherein in the monitoring of the at least one transmission performance parameter, a sampling determination is made as to whether to monitor at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to a selected subset of frames of the second data message, wherein the sampling determination is based on comparing a time duration between the first data message and the second data message against a periodicity criterion.
23. A network node device for use in a wireless multi-hop network in which node devices communicate a plurality of data messages to one another that are each formatted as a series of at least one packet which is further formatted as a series of at least one two frames, the node device comprising: a radio circuit and a controller operatively coupled to the radio circuit, the radio circuit and the controller adapted to establish wireless links between the node device and neighboring node devices including a second node device, and to cause the node device to transmit a first data message of the plurality of data messages to the second node device via a corresponding wireless link, the first data message being an in-band, non-overhead message; the controller adapted to implement a monitoring module for monitoring at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to only a selected subset of frames of the series of at least one two frames of the first data message, wherein the selected subset of frames has structural similarity to selected subsets of frames of other data messages communicated and monitored by other node devices of the network; the controller further adapted to implement a link cost determining module for determining a link cost associated with the wireless link based on at least one transmission performance parameter value of the at least on transmission performance parameter obtained by the monitoring module; and the controller further adapted to implement a networking module adapted to obtain a packet routing path characteristic applicable to packets to be transmitted via the first node device and representing a preferred routing path from among the plurality of wireless links with neighboring node devices, the packet routing path having been generated based on a comparison of link costs corresponding to individual ones of the plurality of wireless links with neighboring node devices, including the link cost associated with the wireless link corresponding to the second node device, and to apply a packet routing path characteristic to packets to be transmitted via the node device.
24. The device of claim 23 , wherein the first data message contains data originated by a source node device and intended to be received and acted upon by a destination node device.
25. The device of claim 23 , wherein the monitoring module is adapted to store past values of the at least one transmission performance parameter, and wherein the link cost includes a statistical summary based on the past values.
26. The device of claim 25 , wherein in the statistical summary represents a running average with greater weight attributed to more recent values.
27. The device of claim 25 , wherein the statistical summary represents a value assigned to one of a plurality of bins, wherein boundaries defining each of the plurality of bins are dynamically adjustable.
28. The device of claim 23 , wherein the selected subset of frames consists essentially of predefined frames that are present in all data messages.
29. The device of claim 23 , wherein the selected subset of frames includes frames associated with an authentication portion of the first data message.
30. The device of claim 23 , the selected subset of frames includes the first n frames of the first data message, wherein n is a predefined quantity.
31. The device of claim 23 , wherein the monitoring module is adapted to obtain a count of re-transmissions of each frame of the selected subset of frames and wherein the link cost represents an expected transmission count (ETX).
32. The device of claim 23 , wherein the monitoring module is adapted to obtain a value of the at least one transmission performance parameter selected from the group consisting of: a time duration for successful transmission, data rate, quantity of retransmissions.
33. The device of claim 23 , wherein the structural similarity of the selected subset of frames includes similarity of a degree such that transmission success of the selected subset of frames is unaffected by any variations in frame structure of the frames of selected subsets among the first data message and the other data messages.
34. The device of claim 23 , wherein a structural similarity of the selected subset of frames includes similarity of a distribution of sizes of frames of the selected subsets among the first data message and the other data messages.
35. The device of claim 23 , wherein a structural similarity of the selected subset of frames includes similarity of a relative arrangement, within a corresponding message, of the frames of the selected subsets among the first data message and the other data messages.
36. The device of claim 23 , wherein the radio circuit and controller are adapted to transmit a plurality of data messages to the second node device via the wireless network; and wherein the monitoring module is adapted to monitor at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to a selected subset of frames of the series of at least two frames of all data messages of the plurality of data messages transmitted by the node device to the second node device.
37. The device of claim 23 , wherein the he packet routing path characteristic is based on a determination of whether the wireless link should be included in a routing path to a particular destination node device.
38. The device of claim 23 , wherein the packet muting path characteristic is based on criteria for adjusting a data rate to be used in transmitting messages over the wireless link.
39. The device of claim 23 , wherein the wireless multi-hop network includes a third node device; and wherein the third node device receives the transmission performance parameter value; and wherein the third node device determines the link cost and reports the link cost to the node device.
40. The device of claim 23 , wherein the wireless multi-hop network includes a third node device; and wherein the third node device obtains the link cost and determines the packet routing path characteristic; and wherein the node device is adapted to receive the packet routing path characteristic from the third node device.
41. The device of claim 23 , wherein the node device is adapted to transmit a second data message of the plurality of data messages to the second node device via the wireless link; and wherein in the monitoring module is adapted to make a sampling determination as to whether to monitor at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to a selected subset of frames of the second data message, wherein the sampling determination is based on comparing a time duration between the first data message and the second data message against a periodicity criterion.
42. In a wireless multi-hop network in which node devices communicate a plurality of messages to one another that are each formatted as a series of at least one packet that is further formatted as a series of at least two frames, a method for determining packet routing for a first node device based on measurement of messages over a wireless link formed between the first node device and a neighboring second node device, the method comprising: transmitting, by the first node device, messages to the second node device via the wireless link; monitoring, by each of the first node device and the second node device, at least one transmission performance parameter corresponding to a subset of frames of the series of at least two frames of the messages, wherein each of the first node device and the second node device accumulates transmission performance data; selecting, by a node device, a preferred set of transmission performance data, as between the transmission performance data that is accumulated in the first node device and or the second node device, from which to determine a packet routing path characteristic applicable to packets to be transmitted via the first node device, such that the preferred set of transmission performance data consists of transmission performance data that was stored in only one of the first node device or the second node device.
43. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data message is an application-layer data message.
44. The device of claim 23 , wherein the first data message is an application-layer data message.
Unknown
October 20, 2015
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